Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young People's Workforce, part 12: Duty of care

At first glance, it might be easy to think that the core mandatory unit 'Principles for implementing duty of care in health, social care or children's and young people's settings' in the Level 3 Diploma is rather insignificant.

It is, after all, the smallest unit in the qualification, as one of only a handful valued at a single credit, and it is reckoned to take the least amount of teaching time at a paltry five guided learning hours.

However, looks are deceptive: this is an important element of the Level 3 Diploma. It covers serious issues which can be very challenging for young and inexperienced practitioners.

Essentially, it considers how duty of care contributes to safe practice, and how dilemmas or complaints arising from it can be addressed.

PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY

Some of the most sensitive issues that practitioners can face are when parents ask that their child undertakes activities which the key person feels are developmentally inappropriate or, conversely, demand that their child does not take part in activities that the key person feels are key to that child's development.

An example of the former is the parental request, 'Please make my two-year-old get on and hold a pencil properly so he can learn to write his name.' Alternatively, at this time of year a parent might insist, 'I don't want my child playing in the snow because she might get cold.'

Vivette Eaton, quality control manager for the Childcare Company, explains, 'It is the practitioner's duty to talk to the parents about the developmental opportunities for their child and, for example, explain that it is not a case of it being the wrong weather for going out in the snow, but wearing the wrong clothing.'

According to Lisa Sutlieff, education resource manager for sister company Laser Learning, early years practitioners have to take professional responsibility for providing children with a range of experiences and opportunities to develop, which are suited to their individual needs.

'This turns the traditional approach to safeguarding and duty of care on its head, because instead of focusing on protecting the child from experiences which may put them in harm's way, there is now this balance between an acceptable level of risk which is helpful for that child's development,' she says.

Ms Eaton recalls a nursery where the children were not allowed to play with twigs that had fallen from the trees because some children made pretend guns and weapons out of them. 'There was a fear that if they were running and fell, they might hurt themselves,' she says.

'But playing with twigs is about exploring nature. Collecting twigs, building things with twigs, is a very natural thing for children to do. Now, you would have to evaluate the risk, and allow them to play with the twigs but set down guidelines such as "don't poke sticks at someone's face".'

Parents can get understandably upset and defensive when you are explaining why you disagree with them about an activity they want their child to carry out or want to stop their child doing. The unit looks at how practitioners can cope with, and resolve, such conflicts.

MAINTAINING A DISTANCE

The Early Years Foundation Stage is built upon the ethos of child-centred learning and focuses on the individual child. An activity which might be developmentally appropriate for one child to undertake might not be suitable for another.

Ms Eaton says, 'You must have reasoned thinking behind a decision. You need to know the children and know about child development and be able to explain why you can allow one child to do something and not another, while still being seen to be treating the children equally. That is very difficult. It may be down to the child's background, health, disabilities or abilities.'

Lisa Sutlieff agrees that dealing with conflict in a professional environment for the first time can be tough.

'It takes a certain ability to be able to distance yourself from the situation while remaining engaged and polite and being able to explain yourself clearly,' she says. 'It is really hard for practitioners who are young. The ability to deal with conflict is something that comes with age and experience.'

She adds, 'The difficulty with these issues is that sometimes there will be no clear-cut answers. The important thing to be aware of is that every situation has to be taken as an individual situation. You cannot hide behind health and safety regulations or the Data Protection Act.'

Ms Eaton says, 'One of the challenges is dealing with complaints and doing so in such a way that moves a situation forward positively.

'If we are looking to raise the profile of nursery practitioners, this might help, as it bestows on them a level of responsibility and duty of care which will make practitioners recognise the importance of their role and raise their self-worth.'

In Nursery World on 24 January we will look at optional units, starting with 'Work with babies and young children to promote development and learning' and 'Care for the physical and nutritional needs of babies and young children'.

KEY ELEMENTS OF PRINCIPLES FOR IMPLEMENTING DUTY OF CARE IN HEALTH, SOCIAL CARE OR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE'S SETTINGS

• Understand how duty of care contributes to safe practice, including being able to explain what it means in your own work role to have a duty of care and how it contributes to safeguarding individuals.

• Know how to address conflicts or dilemmas that may arise between an individual's rights and the duty of care, including being able to describe potential conflicts or dilemmas that may arise.

• Know how to respond to complaints, including being able to explain your setting's complaints procedure.

TOP TIPS

• The skills needed to resolve conflict generally come with age and experience. Give yourself a headstart and ask the manager to talk you through how she/he deals with conflict resolution.

• Read up on your setting's policies and procedures on handling complaints. Use the internet to research how other settings and organisations handle complaints.

• Look for a role model in the nursery with very good people skills and communication skills, and ask if you can shadow them.

• Be aware of your body language - if you are talking to a parent about an issue on which they disagree with you, ensure that you make eye contact, keep calm and speak clearly.

• Ask to practise conflict role-plays at a staff training session.

• In everything you do with the children, think about what it is you are doing and why. Think about how you would explain your practice to somebody else. In this way it will be easier to explain things to parents, such as why you encourage the children to play in the snow or take risks.